Nendo’s Hand-in-Hand House: six small dwellings, one big gesture
Six tiny houses under one roof — or rather, under six roofs that gently touch, like hands meeting in quiet connection. With the Hand-in-Hand House in Karuizawa, the Tokyo-based studio Nendo, creates an architecture that balances intimacy and openness, nature and design, simplicity and emotion.
A Refuge from the City
Just an hour by train from Tokio Karuizawa has long been the retreat of choice for those escaping the city’s humid summers.Here, Nendo designed a weekend home for a family of four: a constellation of six small houses, each around 20 square meters, delicately arranged on a sloping, wooded site.
Linked by a wide wooden terrace, the volumes are slightly staggered in height and orientation — creating a sense of individuality within unity.
“A family holding hands,” says Nendo, describing the concept.
Connection Through Architecture
Each of the six pitched roofs meets the next in a soft, almost human gesture. These intersections give the house both its name and its emotional essence.
Privacy and proximity coexist — architecture becomes an expression of how we relate to one another.
Light Touch, Deep Roots
Raised on piles, the structure minimizes ground disturbance and allows the surrounding vegetation to grow freely beneath.
Large glass façades invite the forest in, while wood — Japan’s most traditional yet forward-looking material — defines the atmosphere inside and out.
Supported by recent government incentives and research into Japanese cedar, timber construction is thriving again in Japan, merging tradition and technology into a sustainable architectural language.
A Philosophy of Space
The Hand-in-Hand House is not a grand statement — it is a gesture of care.
It honors both the landscape and the lives it shelters.
“A respectful distance that celebrates each family member’s individuality — yet keeps them connected.”
